


Insomnia Games Con

by pepsipink



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anime Convention, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Nonsense, Trans Male Character, you heard right folks; the gang goes to a convention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 14:11:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9902579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepsipink/pseuds/pepsipink
Summary: Noctis and co attend Insomnia Games Con, the yearly gaming showcase held in the heart of Insomnia. Gladio buys a body pillow.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i've been lurking the ao3 tag for like 5 months trying to gain the confidence to write something. i decided "fuck i cant go into this fandom headfirst with some angsty shit even though i want to i gotta ease my way into this" so here i am. i was working on katsucon cosplays while the idea sprung in my head and thus... this bullshit was born. (katsu was great btw! i asked like 2 ignis' to knock me up and im so sorry!)
> 
> i actually did... a bit of research regarding kings knight? its not all accurate, and i made some shit up in order to make it work. i didnt want to actually download it (my phone has no fucking space) so i DID my best. (did anybody actually play it tho lmao)
> 
> a few notes: i dont care what u say, prompto canonically plays kingdom hearts. noctis watched.  
> i strongly headcanon that ignis is just as much of a freak as the others. showcased here.  
> the restaurant theyre eating at is definitely chilis. endless tortilla chips and salsa baby!  
> (also real quick theres a joke at the very end that involves my "prompto is trans" headcanon but its probably easy to miss)
> 
> bye!

“ _Ignis_ , c’mon – we wanna _sleeeeep_!” Prompto slumps over the back of Noctis’ couch, flailing his arms in order to get the bespectacled man’s attention.

“Yeah, Ignis, you’ve been embroidering that thing for like two days now – I think it’s done.”

Ignis looks back to Noctis and Prompto, who have long since given up on their own projects, opting to just hot-glue it all together in the morning instead. Gladio was tucked in a corner, either half asleep or suffering greatly from the paint fumes as he attempted to finish the detail on his armor.

All of the outfits were completed, it was just a matter of fixing things up – and Prompto’s uniform had stitching that was just a bit off – an easy fix, but embroidery took a long time.

“I want us all to look of the best quality.” He sighs, his voice has a hint of exhaustion to it, but he doesn’t give up.

“Iggy, it looks fantastic, straight out of the game – nobody will notice a flaw _that_ small.” Noctis frowns, buried in a cocoon of blankets in the corner of his couch, “Prompto’s camera wont pick it up.”

“So you admit, it’s flawed.”

“No!” Noctis is quick to respond, “It looks _so_ good! But you’re gonna feel regret in the morning when we have to leave.”

“He’s right – it’s 3AM. The con is _tomorrow_. Gladio’s already lost it, he’s totally sleeping with his eyes open.”

“Am not.”

Ignis sets the article of clothing down, staring at the fabric in defeat. It really didn’t look bad, but Ignis could see where he had gotten a little clumsy, most likely due to exhaustion. No, nobody would really notice, but _he_ would. He couldn’t let Prompto down like that.

“This is your costume, Prompto. You sure you wouldn’t mind if I gave it to you as is?”

“Hell no!” Prompto perks right up upon seeing Ignis finally give in to the temptation of sleep. “It looks great! Flawless, even. I’d be proud to wear it!”

That’s all Ignis needs to hear to begin putting away the sewing equipment. The idea of Noctis’ kingsized bed is too great for him to get nitpicky at something that probably wont matter – they’d get a good few hours of sleep, so long as Ignis fought his body and didn’t wake up at the crack of dawn.

At some point during their conversation, Gladio had joined Noctis in his blanket cocoon, both staring vacantly at Ignis as he cleaned up. The sight was sad, if they hadn’t been so adamant about ensuring Ignis actually got to bed eventually, he probably would’ve ushered them to sleep hours ago.

“We don’t have to be there until 10.” Prompto yawns, “We _really_ don’t have to be there until 12, since the photoshoot is at 12:30, and we need time to get our badges. Gladio’s makeup will probably take the longest, but I think if we’re up by 9, we should be good.”

“6 hours.”

“Does this mean we’re going to bed?” Noctis asks, nestling against Gladio’s chest, “Cuz if not, I’m passing out right here.”

“No, no – we can sleep.”

Ignis stands, stretching out after being crouched down for so long, back aching from his posture during the embroidery process.

“You first, Gladio, Noct – I can’t stand the sight of you two looking like helpless kittens anymore.” He clears a path for them both, “Prompto, if you would assist me in hanging the costumes so they don’t wrinkle.”

“You got it!”

Noctis struggles as he attempts to get both himself and Gladio up off the couch without ruining their blanket burrito. They shuffled into Noctis’ bedroom like two zombies, desperate for the soft mattress that awaited them on the other side. Ignis and Prompto would join them soon enough, the bed fit all four of them well enough – just so long as Gladio got to be in the middle, Noctis always wound up on top of him, anyway.

Ignis held up Prompto’s now complete garment, staring at it with satisfaction.

Tomorrow, they would be the stars of the show.

* * *

 

Prompto’s face is glued to the window, staring at the crowds of people dressed in costume as they enter the convention space. He’s enamored by the many sights, each character more impressive than the next. He’s glad they were able to make it before the convention opened at 12, standing with strangers on the registration line always managed to be entertaining despite being trapped in a foul smelling room. 

“Don’t smudge the window; this audi’s still brand new.” Noctis tiredly remarks from the backseat of his own car, locked into place as he’s dressed head to toe in a glamorous but uncomfortable costume.

“Sorry! But everyone already looks so _good_! I can’t wait to get in there! So much to do! So much to see!” Prompto exclaims, way too energetic for this early in their day. “ _Look_! There’s a Sephiroth!”

“Prompto, there’s a Sephiroth every year.”

He frowns, sitting down in his seat – unlike Noctis and Gladio, Prompto’s costume gave him a lot more freedom to move around as he pleased. Gladio was covered in makeup and armor crafted from foam, forcing him to remain as still as possible while Ignis drove them to valet parking

While they did attend _Insomnia Game Con_ every year, this year was special – they had finally acquired the right materials to all cosplay from their favorite game; _Kings Knight_. Previous years they wouldn’t dress up, or if they did, the costumes were simple enough to just require a bit of sewing and miniscule craftwork. Kings Knight costumes required a lot more skill, and a lot more patience.

Noctis scored the protagonist, claiming that he had the right body type for the role – though nobody was complaining, since they all had different favorite characters that they wanted to dress up as. Prompto’s being the first party member that you pick up during storymode, while Gladio chose his favorite obscure character – a 5 star super rare that you only achieve by doing the weekly gacha game. Ignis went a bit simpler, an important npc who helps upgrade weapons and leads the crew along their quest.

This year, the development team would be attending the convention, and Prompto had heard rumors that if you showed up to their booth in costume, they’d take a photo of you and feature it on their website – they didn’t mess around with that knowledge, deciding that this was the year they would go for the gold.

“Alright, we’ve made it. We have an hour until the photoshoot, so we need to get our badges ASAP.” Ignis turns to face everyone, “After the photoshoot, we head straight to the booth – after that, we eat.”

“Damn, you’ve really planned it out this year, huh.” Gladio speaks, though his face looks as though it’s stuck, the makeup plastering his expression into that of an angry orc. “I wanna check out the dealers room after the booth, though. Eating can wait, I shoved cereal bars into Prompto’s bag if we really get desperate before we go out, though.”

“Yeah, plus we gotta show off our sweet duds.” Noctis carefully begins to step outside of the vehicle, extra careful not to loosen any components of the cosplay – if he could make it to mid-day before anything started falling apart, he would consider the convention a success.

Both Ignis and Prompto meet Gladio at the door, assisting him out of the car as gently as they could possibly manage. The armor was extremely fragile, and if knocked the wrong way, would more than likely fall off and crumble. Along with Gladio’s face paint; though sealed, looked like it would crack off if he smiled the wrong way.

Sure, they were a group of spoiled young adults with many royal resources at hand, but they were still complete and total newbies when it came to the cosplay business – each year was a learning experience.

King Regis seemed excited for his son to go and have a good time, and even offered Noctis as much assistance as he needed to get his costume done, but Noctis insisted that they do all of the work themselves – it wouldn’t pay off to have it handed to them. (King Regis had been even more proud at that, glad his son was willing to learn how to do something for himself, even if it was a nerdy and useless hobby.)

But now, they had to put that skill to the test – would they make it through the day?

“Alright, c’mere guys – one selfie for snapchat before we go in!”

Prompto pushes Noctis and Ignis to each of Gladio’s sides, diving in front of the three and holding his phone out as far as he could possibly manage, flashing his key character smile, while the others took up their proper in-character expressions.

The camera sound clicks, and Prompto slaps on a sparkly filter and hits _add to story_.

* * *

 

“I got an itch…” Gladio mumbles, staring straight forward at the registration line as he can’t really turn anywhere else. 

They’ve been waiting for around 20 minutes and the line was moving fairly quickly from what they’re usually used to. They’re stuck close together, which isn’t much of an issue, and occasionally, people shout out their character names to get their attention and ask if they can get a picture if they see them anywhere that isn’t the registration room.

Ignis looks up to Gladio, seeing how he scrunches his nose, his hand twitching because he lacks the ability to lift it up to his face. Gladio deserved this fate – since he just _had_ to go with one of the most complicated character designs.

He shuffles in front of Gladio, reaching his hand up to his cheek. “Here?” He asks, earning a stiff nod in return, to which Ignis scratches for him, careful enough not to destroy his paint job that took Prompto nearly an hour to complete.

The line inches forward, and Noctis feels people begin to get distressingly close. While he didn’t necessarily _care_ if the local papers reported about him being a total loser attending a gaming convention, he would rather go without experiencing something like that at all. It didn’t help that he and his cosplay character already looked somewhat similar, so picking him out would’ve been incredibly easy.

The idea still makes him a bit anxious, and he winds up pushing his way in front of Prompto, tilting his gaze towards the floor.

“You alright, Noct? The crowd’s not too much, is it?”

“We’re almost there, I’ll be fine.” He mumbles, “Just wanna get the photoshoot over with so we can goof around.”

“You’re doin’ great.” Prompto places his hand on Noctis’ lower back, rubbing soothing circles into it. “If you gotta step out, we’ll step out – no biggie.”

“Pull through it, Noctis, we’re about three people away from getting our badges.” He hears Gladio say – Gladio can see over the crowd, he’s got the best idea out of all of them.

“I can make it.”

“We made it!” Prompto perks up, grabbing Noctis by the shoulders. “C’mon! Let’s go! A world of nerds awaits us!”

“A gentile reminder that we _are_ those nerds.” Ignis hums as he steps forward, leading his friends to the ticketing booth.

The day had only just begun.

* * *

 

The official Kings Knight photoshoot is _packed_. Noctis sees at least 15 other people cosplaying the same character, and he has no idea how they’re all going to fit in front of the fountain where all the photos were being taken. Gladio is getting loads of attention, though, since he was the only one dressed up as his particular character – a true super rare, indeed. 

Prompto stands by him, ensuring nobody got too close to mess up his armor, also clearing a pathway for him so he could easily maneuver to the fountain when he would eventually be called up.

All four of them get complimented – multiple times. Prompto did everyone’s makeup, and the crowd’s consistently praising how accurate they look to their characters. People ask for photos with them, and thankfully they’ve memorized their poses, always managing to look _super_ badass when they get into formation.

For some of the … other fans, Prompto and Noctis ham it up – cosplaying from one of the most popular ships. They don’t mind (Noctis and Prompto ship it too.) Ignis occasionally joins in for a rarepair, or an OT3. Gladio is too constricted to join in any shipping shenanigans, so he stays put – though Noctis grabs a nice shot of Ignis and Prompto praying to Gladio’s ass, which he definitely puts on snapchat and instagram _immediately_.

Their group is exclusively called up, since they’ve been so in character, and they made up the full team in quest 432, which was the latest update, and therefore, all the rage.

The attention is _great_. They’re cheered by the crowd, and it only fuels their fire. Considering how successful they were this year, they can only imagine what it’ll be like next year, with all the experience under their belts now.

“And here you thought you were gonna be overshadowed by the other people cosplaying Ray Jack.” Gladio shoots Noctis a grin, “You’re on a role, Noct.”

“Yeah, I guess being _overrated_ isn’t that bad.”

Noctis elbows Prompto in the side for his comment, “I could kiss you again for the big crowd – you’d like that, huh?”

“Yeah, and when your dad sees us mackin’ it online, what happens?”

“Wasn’t me.”

* * *

 

“My feet are startin’ to hurt, man. After the booth, I might go sit down.” 

Gladio kind of glares at Prompto – kid isn’t dressed head to toe in extremely restricting armor, so he has no right to complain. But they _have_ been walking around for a while, now.

But Gladio still wanted to check out the dealers room – he was dying to get the con exclusive _Justice Monsters 5_ figurine. He’d never admit it, but he’s had a major crush on Lamiana ever since the game came out – sure she was fictional, but she was gorgeous, and he wanted nothing more than to display her on his dresser.

“You can sit if you want, Prompto.” Noctis shrugs, “I wanna explore for a bit more. Hey – Ignis, wanna check out the blurays with me? You usually have pretty good taste, I haven’t hated anything you tried showing me, yet.”

“No… it’s fine. If you go off with Ignis, I’ll go off with Gladio.” Prompto looks to his big, burly boyfriend covered in paint. “Someone’s gotta judge him and his giant snake girlfriend.”

“Yeah, try explaining that to Iris.” Noctis laughs, gently nudging Gladio in his side.

They finally decide to continue on their journey – to the Kings Knight booth. They would be featured on the developers website if they looked as good as they thought they did. If not, they did promise free items to whoever showed up in costume and signed into their gaming accounts at the booth. Noctis was hoping for more jewels, this way he could spend it on more character gachas, and finally get a character that was even more rare than Gladio’s (which he never let him live down.)

Ignis, on the other hand, though he’d never admit, was desperate for some coins to level up his weapons. He had no issue evolving his characters, but he could never get enough materials to strengthen his blade – it was terribly time consuming and absolutely annoying. With such an on-call job as Noctis’ advisor, he didn’t get too much time to play on his own time.

Prompto pretty much never _stopped_ playing, and for some reason, even though Gladio was just as busy as Ignis was, he seemed to have the best characters and stats in the entire game. It left everyone baffled – why did Gladio just have _such_ good luck?

Before they know it, they’re standing in front of the booth. It’s blasting music from the soundtrack, and all of the video screens are showing either gameplay or cutscenes from the actual app. It’s absolutely _packed_ with people, and it seems nearly impossible to fight through the crowd to get to the table.

“Oh my god!”

A voice grabs all four’s attention – coming from within the booth itself. A female employee practically jumps onto the table, shoving the congoers in front of her out of the way, clearing a path for them.

“Ray Jack! And his friends! C’mere, let me get your photo!”

Their faces all collectively light up (although Gladio can hardly move his mouth) and they rush forward, earning a squeal from the vendor who grabs the others working with her so she can show them off.

“Look at them! They all look so good!”

“No way – is that a fricken’ _Ultimate 5 Star Bahamut_?” One of the other vendors asks, reaching for the company phone, getting the camera set up. “I _gotta_ get this on camera – the team’s gonna _love_ you guys!”

“Gladio keeps getting all the attention, damnit!”

Gladio smirks at Prompto, “Yeah well, you just gotta get good and pick better characters to dress up as.”

“Come now – no arguing. Smile for their camera.” Ignis takes his pose, holding out his trident made from PVC pipe, earning a ‘ _wow, amazing!’_ from the female vendor.

They pose together, faces entirely serious as they truly become their characters for the moment, even more people gathering around for photos while they stand stone still until everyone’s finished.

The development team shoves literal giant bags into each of their arms, full of exclusive goods that they were promised on the convention’s website. Prompto’s practically in tears, and Noctis is begging to get away so he can tear it open and see what’s inside.

“Thank you - we’re honored to be given this kind of attention at your booth. We’ve been fans for a long time!” Ignis gives his charming smile to the female vendor, bowing his head lightly.

“Oh, it’s not a problem! We love seeing people get as passionate as you lot are!” She hums, leaning forward. “And _your_ character? He’s my favorite~”

She slides him her number, winking at him before she walks away to tend to the other customers. He takes it – though he’s entirely winded.

He wonders if Gladio would do the same had he seen someone cosplaying his giant snake wife.

* * *

 

“She gave you her number?” Noctis laughs, “People get so wild for their faves.” 

“You’re telling me.”

They’re on their way back from browsing blurays, ready to meet up again with Gladio and Prompto who were buried deep within the figurine booth.

Noctis was _starving_ , and Ignis had set up plans to eat at a bar across the street. It was being sponsored by the convention, so they wouldn’t have to feel weird eating in their cosplays, but they didn’t want to be too visible either outside of the convention – since Noctis sometimes had tabloids desperately looking to dig up dirt on him. Unlucky for them, Noctis lived a rather mundane life when he wasn’t tending to his princely duties – but seeing him in costume would’ve surely fueled their desires.

“Hey – there they are.” He points them out to Ignis, who immediately locks eyes with a very concerned Prompto.

Ignis squints slightly, trying to see what exactly Gladio is standing in front of, he’s got something tucked under his arm, vacuum sealed. Prompto rushes over not even 5 seconds later, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Gladio wasn’t looking back at them.

“We have a problem…” Prompto whispers, shoving both Noctis and Ignis slightly out of the way, “A _big_ problem.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Ignis sounds concerned, looking over Prompto’s shoulder to get Gladio back in his view.

“Is everything okay?”

Prompto furrows his eyebrows, averting his gaze towards the floor.

“It’s not… Gladio’s…”

“Gladio’s what?”

Prompto looks up at Ignis, true horror in his eyes.

“He’s buying a giant body pillow of the snake girl from Justice Monsters 5.”

“You’re kidding.”

Prompto shakes his head vigorously, pointing at Gladio, standing back by the figurine booth.

“He just blew 700 gil on the figurine! And now he’s gonna blow the rest of it on his weird snake girlfriend!”

“It’s his money.” Noctis shrugs, “What’s the big deal?”

“Noct! What if he tries dragging that _thing_ into bed with _us_?!”

Something in Noctis’ head just _clicks_. His eyes widen and he shoves Prompto out of his face, getting a clear shot of Gladio as he exchanged his gil with the vendor for the body pillow in question. They typically spent the night in Noctis’ apartment two to three times a week. Prompto was there most often, since he didn’t like being at home alone for too long, and Gladio still resided with his parents and sister. If Gladio kept the body pillow in his room back at home, it wouldn’t have been much of an issue.

Noctis frequented the Amicitia household maybe once or twice a month, and Ignis similarly did the same. Ignis would not allow the body pillow in his apartment, since Gladio was there the most often out of all of them.

But Noctis’ apartment…

Noctis’ apartment was almost like their common home. They were there _all_ the time, and the others had a plethora of belongings laying around in every room. They had clothing, toothbrushes, computers, phone chargers – just about any average apartment shared by four people would have.

Gladio might try to pull some shit and drop off his new body pillow at Noctis’ apartment and fight for her right to belong there.

“No – nononono.” Noctis pushes past his friends, diving into the crowd to try and get to Gladio before it would be too late.

Gladio turns around, shocked by Noctis practically _sprinting_ towards him. He’s unable to stop him as he _rips_ the body pillow from underneath Gladio’s arm. Noctis flails it in front of his face, looking completely heated.

“What the hell is this, Gladio?!”

“Lamiana.”

“A body pillow?! _Really_?!”

“Dude, why are you so angry?”

“You’re keeping this in your room back at your own house.”

Gladio’s at a loss for words, eyes wide as Noctis holds out the body pillow, trying to figure out just how _big_ it was since it was in a vacuum sealed package. He snatches the body pillow back, practically cracking his armor in the process.

“I mean, that was the plan? She wont fit on the bed with all four of us anyway.”

“…Good.” Noctis scowls at Gladio, shaking his head in disapproval. “I hope Iris sees it and burns it.”

“Why are you allowed to sleep with a _carbuncle plush toy_ at 20 years old, and I’m not allowed to sleep with a body pillow?!”

“Because you’re dating all three of us and can cling onto _me_ instead of a video game character.”

“It gets lonely when I gotta sleep back at my family’s place!”

Noctis opens his mouth to try and argue back, but he can’t find any reason to object anymore. He was right – it was his money, and as long as that abomination of a pillow didn’t reside in his apartment, there really wasn’t any problem.

“Just… please… put it in your bag.”

The others finally rejoin the group, Prompto hiding behind Ignis, too fearful to face Gladio and his new friend. They see Noctis let out an exaggerated sigh, shaking his head in disapproval.

“I’m going to the restaurant. Follow me if you want.”

Noctis heads off in front of them, practically leaving them in the dust.

“You’re not leaving that in my apartment either, Gladio.”

Gladio makes eye contact with Ignis, feeling his gaze burn a hole into his skull. Ignis takes off next, leaving Prompto behind with Gladio.

“If it makes you feel better, we were gonna pitch in for that bust statuette of her for your birthday… since she’s like… 2000 gil.”

“Can it. You’re the one who tattled on me like a five year old.”

Gladio disappears into the crowd, leaving Prompto to scramble behind him so he could catch up with everybody.

* * *

 

They're luckily shoved into a tight corner of the bar. 

Gladio has discarded most of his armor by now, and Noctis shred two of his layers to make it easier to maneuver. The menu is less than appetizing, but they were somewhat prepared for that – shitty city food every once in a while wasn’t _terrible_. Not that they had much of a choice for what was surrounding the convention – mostly fast food or super upscale restaurants that they would’ve happily occupied had they not been in _costume_.

This was a lucky in-between, and although Noctis and Ignis were finding it _difficult_ to find something that would sit well with them, they knew it wasn’t impossible.

Prompto, on the other hand, has already chosen three things off the menu, and Gladio was judging Noctis and Ignis for being so damn picky. (Gladio got royal meals practically every day, and the other two simply couldn’t figure out _why_ he preferred cheap cup noodle to something home made and exquisite.)

“Ignis, I get your _sophisticated palette_ or whatever – but Noct. This is all exactly the same shit you eat at home. The only difference is that it’s not 8000 gil.”

“Maybe I _want_ my fries to be 8000 gil.” Noctis mumbles behind his menu, “Whatever, I know what I’m getting.”

“Good.” Gladio nods in approval. “Don’t let me down, Ignis.”

“I’m not about to be chastised by the man who just bought a body pillow of a video game character.”

“Can we!” He slams a fist on the table, “Drop that shit! She’s cute! And I needed a new one anyway!”

Prompto nearly chokes on his water, “Do you have more than one?”

“No! My old body pillow was just… a body pillow. I like huggin’ shit when I sleep!”

“We know.” Noctis and Ignis both speak in unison, earning an embarrassed groan from Gladio.

“Whatever! Just call the waitress over and let’s order our damn food.”

The plan was to keep it tame for now, a simple but large enough meal to tide them over until nighttime when it was time to go back to Noct’s apartment. It wasn’t that they _disliked_ food outside of the citadel, it was just more convenient for them – even Ignis couldn’t resist giving into a guilty pleasure every so often.

The only rules they had to follow were ‘don’t get anything too messy’ since Ignis would’ve killed them if they tainted their cosplays even a _little_ bit. Ignis semi-watched them like a hawk as they ordered their meals, specifically Gladio, if only because he knew Gladio’s dietary habits.

“I’ll put those in for you! Lemme know if you need anything else, ‘kay?”

“Thank you!” Prompto waves the waitress off, turning back to his companions. “You know, we come here every year, but I have a good feeling about this time! She can’t mess up our orders for the fourth year in a row!”

“I think she’s getting suspicious of me.” Noctis lifted his head, having hid himself as much as he possibly could’ve without seeming like he was being rude. “Kept staring – I think she’s gonna snitch."

“Ah, it’s no big deal, Noct. So what if they out you as a nerd?”

Prompto flashes a smile at him, tousling up his styled hair a bit.

“I’d rather not deal with that sorta thing. A couple of months ago they caught me sleeping in Ignis’ car while he was picking something up at the post office and they made me a meme and photoshopped me sleeping in weird locations.”

“That was pretty fuckin’ hilarious.” Gladio chuckles before taking a sip of his beer.

“I mean, it was, but then I’d walk into the citadel and the security guards would pull new ones up on their phone and show it to me – it was never ending.”

“You’ll be fine, Noct. We’re in a corner and Gladio’s sitting across from you. I highly doubt anybody can see you behind his armor.”

“Yeah! And if anybody starts actin’ weird, we’ll just set up Lamiana up in your place!”

“Shut it, Prompto.”

Prompto sticks his tongue out at Gladio, earning a scowl in return. His attention is caught by the waitress swinging around their table again. She’s got their appetizers, luckily – but Gladio still makes a bit of an effort to keep her attention off Noctis.

“Here you guys go! And the manager said that the appetizers are on the house!”

“Hm? Why is that?” Ignis turns to the waitress, puzzled by her information. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Noctis stiffen in his posture.

“Oh, well – you lot come here every year during the con. The manager is a fan of the game you’re cosplayin’ from too!” She hums, setting the dish in the middle of the table. “I’ll get your entrees out for you in a bit!”

Before they can say anything else, she’s waltzed away to the kitchen once more.

“She knows.”

All three turn to Noctis, who’s sunken so far in his chair he’s practically hiding underneath the table.

“She said that the manager is just a fan of Justice Monsters! That’s all, Noct! Nothin’ to worry about!” Prompto tries dragging Noctis out from under the table, only to be met with such extreme resistance.

“She didn’t say that at first. I’m gonna be a meme, again.”

“I mean, you’re made into a meme like every six months – figured you’d be used to it by now.” Gladio’s already digging in to their appetizer, shoving near fistfuls of chips into his mouth.

“Gladio, please… don’t spill any…”

“Mmfmfmfine”

Ignis rolls his eyes, unraveling a cloth napkin and draping it over Gladio’s lap.

“Anyway, Noct. Regardless, we have to eat _something_. Just act as nonchalant as you possibly can, and I’m sure it’ll be fine. The more embarrassed you act, the more attention is drawn to you.”

“Nonchalant… got it…”

Noctis begins taking from the appetizer dish, _nonchalantly_ taking small bites that discourage anybody from paying him too much mind. Prompto suddenly thrusts himself next to Noctis, completely invading his personal space. He’s got his phone out in front of him, the camera perfectly capturing Noctis’ horrified, unsuspecting expression.

“Smile for our fans!”

Noctis doesn’t even have to blink before Prompto withdraws his phone and adds the photo to his story, sending it to his entire contact list, and to the convention’s geotag.

* * *

 

“Now we can just fuck around, right?” 

Gladio finishes re-attaching the final piece of armor to his bicep, looking to Ignis for an answer. Noctis is being fastened into his cosplay by Prompto, trying (and failing) not to suffocate the Crown Prince, while Ignis checks the convention schedule on his phone.

“Yes, though I’d still like for us to stick around each other.”

“Of course! We’re a group, after all!”

“Yeah, and nobody will know who Gladio is unless he’s with one of us.” Noctis shoots Gladio a smirk, quickly interrupted with a wheeze while Prompto pulls his last tie together. “Are you tryin’ to kill me, Prom?!”

“Sorry! Ignis is better at this kind of thing – we’re done, though! You’re good!”

“Then let’s go. Gladio may have been able to buy his… new partner, but I haven’t gotten a chance to find anything within my own interests.”

“Do you want a body pillow too, Iggy?” Noctis asks, only to be met with a kick to the shin from Gladio.

“I’d like an art book…”

“Oh! Can we check out the Justice Monsters booth too? They’ve got demos of the new update!”

“You sure you don’t wanna split up, Iggy?” Gladio nudges his boyfriend, “I got my pillow so I don’t need to go to the booth.”

“No, it’s fine. I’d like to see the booth – unless, you are too embarrassed to show your face after having bought some lewd product from their company?”

“None of you are really gonna let me live this down, huh?”

“No way!” “Hah! No!” Prompto and Noctis shout in unison.

“Besides, they’re selling art books at the booth.”

Prompto gasps suddenly, shoving Noctis and Ignis to the side, practically knocking Gladio over in the process.

“Oh. Em. Gee! Look at that tiny Sora!”

He bursts through the crowd, spotting a toddler-aged child dressed head to toe in cosplay, standing beside his assumed mother. There’s a ring of people surrounding them, all also gawking in adoration at the sight, taking photos as he poses with his child-sized keyblade.

Prompto is now standing in the middle of said crowd, whipping his camera out from his bag, and joining in with everyone else with their picture taking.

Noctis, Ignis and Gladio stand behind him, curious to see what he was so excited about.

“Dude – we should _totally_ cosplay from this next year!” Prompto turns slightly to look Noctis in the eye. This isn’t up for debate anymore – Prompto’s made up his mind in this exact second.

“Oh yeah, this is like, one of your favorite games, huh?” Noctis folds his arms over his chest, looking up at the sight.

The kid can’t be any older than four, and he’s got posing down to a T. His mother is dressed to match, posing beside him with a kind smile as she holds him close enough that she doesn’t have to worry about anybody trying anything stupid. The more he looks at her, the clearer it becomes that her smile, while kind, is also incredibly threatening. The keyblade she holds may be crafted from foam, but Noctis has no doubt in his mind that she could potentially kill somebody with it if they tried snagging her baby for themself.

“He’s soooo small! But damn – he’s working that cosplay! We can cosplay the Organization! Man! But I’d want a keyblade though! There’s four of us so we can’t even be any of the trios!”

“We have an entire year to figure this out, Prompto.” Ignis says, “That child’s cosplay is impressive – though, I’ve no doubt in my mind that you would also force any children of yours into this useless hobby.”

“You’re partaking in this useless hobby too, Iggy.” Gladio smirks, but is suddenly drawn to a new sight. His eyes widen and he holds his breath – taking off at mach five towards whatever it was he was staring at.

“Gladio?” Noctis follows after him, dragging Prompto with him, much to his chargin.

Ignis turns his head, spotting a pink haired woman attempting to maneuver through the crowds. His eyes wander south, spotting an impossibly large snake tail, beginning at her waist.

“It’s… Lamiana…”

Gladio’s following her like a damned zombie. He looks like he’s seen an astral in the flesh, mouth hanging agape slightly, his armor getting knocked around by each stranger he walks into. Luckily, Noctis and Prompto were following behind him closely enough that they were able to get a hold of him and at the very least guide him towards her. All three knew that trying to keep Gladio from his beloved was absolutely useless – and he had reason to be as excited as he was. Her cosplay was crafted beautifully, looking as if she had just stepped out of the game.

Ignis trails behind them, seeing how Gladio discards his armor for Noctis to gather in his arms. He’s completely serious.

“Is Gladio breaking up with us?”

Both Ignis and Noctis laugh at Prompto’s question, earning a frown from the former.

“Let him be smitten – outside of cosplay, she’s more than likely not his type.” Ignis reaches for Prompto’s camera inside of his bag, making eye contact with a very excited Gladio who just got permission to take a picture with the pretty young woman.

Gladio approaches them, a goofy smile plastered on his face.

“Can you get a photo of us? Oh! And guess what! She said she wants a selfie with me – ‘cuz I’m her favorite Kings Knight character.”

Prompto sideeyes Noctis who’s trying not to lose his absolute shit, attempting to reattach Gladio’s armor to his person _once_ more.

“Absolutely, Gladio.” Ignis turns the camera on, walking forward with him as he approaches the young woman once more. Gladio stands next to Lamiana, taking his pose as she takes hers, placing her hands on his bicep and sticking out her (very long) tongue with the most wicked pair of bedroom eyes Ignis has ever seen in his entire life. He snaps the photo and sees them exchange a few words, smiling at each other before Lamiana… slithers off in the opposite direction.

Gladio looks like a happy school girl, standing in front of his beloved looking starstruck.

“…Did she give you her number, or something?” Prompto asks, trying to get some sort of a reaction out of his boyfriend.

He laughs and shakes his head, “Nah. She’s gay – said her girlfriend made the tail ‘cuz she’s good at props.”

“Well – you have that in common now, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah. I wouldn’t leave you three for a snake lady.”

* * *

 

It was getting rather late – before they knew it, the con was getting ready to close for the day. They did their fair share of wandering and overspending on leisurely merchandise that they would probably be judged for later on. Noctis was falling asleep, and Gladio had sweat off most of his makeup. Prompto was just barely hanging on, sitting against a wall as Ignis ensured that everybody had everything they needed before they got ready to set out. 

Despite having a blast, conventions did a fantastic job of wiping them all out. Ignis probably would’ve been just as exhausted, had he not been thriving off of ebony. They had all discarded a majority of their cosplays, shoved into the bags they received from the Kings Knight booth – but they got fairly good photos throughout the day, thanks to Prompto and his ability to set up the timer on his camera. Not that _those_ photos would ever see the light of day – it would simply be nice to look back on some day.

“Did we do everything we wanted to?” Ignis asks, like a concerned parent.

“Hell yeah. Just wanna go home and take a damn shower.” Noctis slumps against Prompto, who’s leaning against Gladio.

“Did _you_ do everything you wanted to do, Iggy?”

Ignis looks to Gladio, seeing how his eyeliner streaked all the way to his chin, despite his serious expression, he can’t help but laugh at it.

“All I want to do now is clean your face for you, Gladio.”

“Aww, c’mon – I’m serious.” He frowns, “You were being team mom this whole day, was there anything you wanted to do?”

“All I wanted was for you all to have fun. Your happiness is crucial to my own.”

“Hey, Iggy – I got somethin’ for ya.” Noctis lazily tosses a plastic bag Ignis’ way. Ignis looks puzzled, considering he was at Noct’s side for most of the day – he doesn’t know how he got away with purchasing anything without Ignis seeing. “While you were helping Gladio get his picture with the snake girl, I got you that art book you were eyeing earlier.”

“You collect them, don’t you?” Prompto asks, watching as Ignis removes the thick booklet from the bag.

“I do… thank you, Noct. That was… very kind of you.”

“S’nothin. You may be good at hiding it, but you’re just as much a nerd as Prompto is.”

“Hey!”

Ignis smiles.

For costumes that took them months to assemble, the day went by fairly quickly. It felt long in the process, but now that they were ready to head home, the four of them couldn’t help but look back at the con with a sense of melancholy. They always left feeling this way, but it was always worth it. All four look back at the hall leading down to the convention center, seeing cosplayers alike limp their way towards the exit, wigs discarded, and eyes glazed over with exhaustion and a desire to be home in their own beds.

They found themselves relating to that kind of sentiment.

“Shall we get going?” Ignis gestures to the glass doors, hearing his partners groan and adjust as they attempt to stand. He was sure they’d all sleep soundly on the short car ride to Noctis’ apartment.

“Yeah, yeah. Gonna need help scrubbing all this paint off of me.” Gladio mumbled, stretching his limbs as best he could, reaching for the bags at his feet.

Prompto wrapped his arm around Ignis’, smooshing his face into the fabric of his coat. “Can’t walk. Lead me.”

The bespectacled man laughed, wrapping his arm around Prompto’s waist. “I’ve got you – I can only guide one of you, though – Noct, Gladio; you’re on your own.”

They both groaned in understanding, Noctis latched to Gladio’s side as they stumbled forward, headed directly to the parking garage.

* * *

 

Noctis was the last to step out of the shower, opting to go last due to everyone else being in more urgent need to get clean. (In truth, it was because Noctis took a short nap as soon as they got into the apartment and everyone had snuck in without him even noticing.) 

Ignis and Prompto were seated on the carpeted floor, staring idly at the television as they dug into their meals that they picked up at the drive-thru before they got to the apartment. Gladio was on the couch, cross legged and huddled in a blanket, freshly bathed while he too ate. (Lamiana was draped on the couch behind him, but everyone was too exhausted to argue with it.) Noctis’ meal was sitting next to him, waiting for him to indulge. Noctis could feel his stomach growl just at the sight of it.

“Feeling better?” Ignis asked, being the first to actually notice Noctis step out into the living room.

“100%.” He spoke, a hint of exhaustion to his voice. “Those circle lenses were killing my eyes.”

Noctis took his seat next to Gladio, digging his hand into his bag to retrieve his meal. Some cooking competition was playing on the television, and Noctis didn’t know if everyone was genuinely invested, or if they were simply too tired to care.

“They get the dumbest people to be on these shows. How the hell do you forget _milk_ when you’re baking.” Prompto mumbled, mouth half full with food.

“Dude grabbed a jalapeño. He’s making fucking ice cream.”

Ignis laughed, “Didn’t realize you two were cooking experts.”

Gladio shrugged, shoving a few fries in his mouth. “Yeah, well.”

“C’mon, Iggy. If you were on this show, you’d _tooootally_ knock everyone out of the park on the first go.” Prompto looked over at him, “No jalapeño’s in your ice cream.”

“Hey – Ignis. You should cosplay the host next year. Everyone would love it.” Noctis chuckled at his own idea, able to _feel_ Ignis roll his eyes despite not seeing his face.

“I’ll do that when you dress up as the man who sells fishing utensils on that dumb magazine you like to read.”

Suddenly, Prompto’s phone began buzzing off the coffee table. He reached for it before it could hit the floor, entering his passcode. His eyes widened, scrolling through his messages. He nervously looked back at Noctis, who was too focused on his burger to notice the urgency in Prompto’s eyes.

His phone buzzed again, and then two more times, earning everyone’s attention. 

“Who ya textin’?” Noctis finally asked, leaning forward to read the contact displayed on his screen.

“Oh – you remember Corona?”

“Yeah. I still text her sometimes. Why? She saw your cosplay photos and is completely and totally in love with you now?”

“Not quite.”

Prompto hands his phone to Noctis – he scrolls through the messages, coming to one that read as a link. He glanced over at Prompto, seeing his paranoid expression before he took the liberty of opening said link up.

Noctis’ eyes widened, dropping the phone onto his lap.

“Oh, c’mon. What is it? Lemme see.”

Gladio snags the phone out of Noctis’ lap, taking five seconds to glance over the webpage before he bursts into laughter, practically rolling off the couch in order to pass the phone over to Ignis. He has tears streaming down his cheeks as he completely and totally loses his shit, slamming his fists on the cushions. Ignis doesn’t necessarily _want_ to know what’s so funny, but he takes a look anyway, adjusting his glasses as he reads the page outloud.

“ _Spotted the Crown Prince at Games Con today_.” He takes a deep breath as he scrolls further, seeing a plethora of photos pop up below the subject line.

A photo of them at the restaurant is posted at full size, Noctis trapped in Prompto’s death grip while his mouth is stuffed with tortilla chips.

“Noct…” Ignis exhales, scrolling further, only to see more photos posted by _other_ people. One of the photos is taken directly from Prompto, his snapchat name in the lefthand corner of the picture.

Other photos have captions that say; “Oh shit! I took a picture with him! I didn’t even realize he was the crown prince lmfaooooo!!!” and “holy FUCK. HAHA HE WAS PRACTICALLY MAKING OUT WITH THE BAHAMUT AT THE PHOTOSHOOT.”

“How – how did she find that?!” Noctis cries out in anguish, throwing himself on the couch, pulling Lamiana over his head to shield himself from the embarrassment.

“Said her friends were there today and saw you. Sorry, Noct. This is my fault.”

“That _is_ your snapchat name in that photo, Prompto. There’s no way to delete it?” Ignis asks, handing the phone back to him.

“No… it’ll be there for like, a day. C’mon Iggy, I know you know how to use it. You send us snaps of you getting wasted like, twice a week.”

“Yes, well. I’m not the crown prince.”

Gladio’s still laughing on the floor, having pulled up the link on his own phone.

“Holy shit – this one says, ‘ _crown prince willingly eats ass but not vegetables’_ and it’s you layin’ on my butt in the hallway.” He shoves his phone in Noctis’ face, but is violently shoved away.

“We’re not going back next year!”

“Don’t worry Noct. It’ll last a week.” Ignis pulls Lamiana from Noct’s face, trying his best to console him.

“Yeah – then the next Hot Noctis Meme will pop up.”

“You guys all suck. I’m going to bed.”

“Are we allowed to join?”

Noctis grabs Lamiana and drapes her over his shoulders, shooting a glare at Ignis and company.

“I can’t promise any of your balls if you do.”

“Sweet! That means I’m good to go!” Prompto hops up, and runs to Noctis’ side, only to be whipped with the pillow sheet in defiance.

“Think about what you’ve done, Prompto.”

Noctis storms into his bedroom and slams the door, leaving his partners staring vacantly at the wall. They’re all quiet, unsure of what exactly went wrong.

“I mean, me and Noct post dumb snapchats all the time.” Prompto frowns, “I had no idea.”

“He took Lamiana with him…”

Ignis sighs, removing his glasses as he pinches the bridge of his nose. They should’ve been more careful.

Noctis suddenly pops his head out from the doorway, throwing Lamiana at Gladio’s head without fail.

“I’m just fuckin’ with you guys. But I _will_ get you for this, Prompto. Sleep with your eyes open.” His face is completely serious, but he breaks into uncontrollable laughter after a few moments.

“Sweet six, don’t _scare_ me like that, man!" 

Prompto whines, rolling around on the floor as Noctis joins them on the couch again. Prompto throws himself onto Noctis’ lap, stretching out over Gladio’s legs as well. Ignis hesitates at first, but he too gets in on the action, resting his head on Gladio’s thigh, closing his eyes.

“You guys make doing dumb shit really special. I love you.” Noctis breaks the silence, running his fingers through Prompto’s soft, blonde hair.

“Yeah – we love you too.”

“Ditto!”

“You lot are the only ones I would _ever_ do any of this stuff with.” Ignis hums, “Take pride in that.”

“I do. And I will forever.” 

“So…” Prompto looks up at his companions. “Kingdom Hearts cosplay next year?”

**Author's Note:**

> hey im here on tumblr ([pepsipink](http://www.pepsipink.tumblr.com))


End file.
